Orphan Black teaser finds itself

CB Droege, 30th December 2012

BBC America releases the first teaser for its upcoming sci-fi mystery thriller.

Black Orphan is an interesting ’20 minutes into the future’ take on the Prince and the Pauper tale. When a young lady stumbles upon a dead woman who looks almost just like her, she thinks that there could be little harm or risk in assuming the woman’s identity just long enough to clean out her bank accounts, but she gets into trouble instead when she discovers that someone is hunting the woman, now her, and perhaps the similar appearance is not just a coincidence.

BBC America has been talking about this show for over six-months, ever since it picked up the series from a Canadian studio. The network, which was founded to bring BBC programming to the United States, has received some criticism for taking on original programming, and not from the UK, but they have not let that faze them. Like many specialized networks before them, they’ve found the benefit in going off mission for a few time-slots.

The lead – actually several characters - is played by Tatiana Maslany, whom you might recognize from a small role on Alphas. The show’s creators and exec. groducers are Grame Mason and John Faucett. Both are veterans of the Canadian genre television scene, but Fawcett in particular brings an impressive resume, having also worked on Lost Girl, Secret Circle, and Xena: Warrior Princess.

This teaser is a bit obtuse, but does offer us a sense of the tone the series will take.

The show will be getting the most valuable time-slot on BBC America: Saturday nights, immediately following Doctor Who. That alone should give it massive exposure.

Currently, ten episodes have been ordered at an hour apiece. There is no word if this is only the first season, or if there is more planned after. The premiere episode will air after the next episode of Doctor Who in April.